LäusevsLautesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Läuse” and “Lautes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
#17,352
“Lautes” frequency rank
60687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Läuse Lautes
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Laut

Where the eye mixes Läuse and Lautes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Läuse runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Lautes's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Läuse
6 ch
Lautes

Look-alike desk: Läuse vs Lautes

A purely visual mix-up. Läuse ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) and Lautes ([ˈlaʊ̯təs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Läuse is recorded at frequency rank #43,335, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]. Lautes is at rank #17,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯təs].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 60687, this pair ranks #777,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Läuse vs Lautes

Shared letters: elsu. Private to "Läuse": ä. Private to "Lautes": at.

"Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Lautes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lautes ← alutes · latues · lauets · lautess · lautse · lauttes · llautes · luates

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Läuse" and "Lautes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə] versus [ˈlaʊ̯təs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Läuse" vs "Lautes" - which ranks higher?
"Lautes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,352 in our German list, against #43,335 for "Läuse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Läuse" and "Lautes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lautes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #777,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Läuse" and "Lautes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #777,699 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list